Cuba Facts
Compiled by John Suarez
1. Myth: There is a U.S. blockade on Cuba .
Reality: Between January 2001 and October 2015 under the
United States Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancements Act the
value of authorized agricultural and food product exports to the
Republic of Cuba was $5,234,400,000.00
1.
It is estimated that US Cubans send $800 million a year in remittances
to Cuba. The United Nations Economic Commission on Latin America found
evidence for a sharp rise in remittances to Cuba in 1995 and 1996: in
1990 $100 million, in 1993 $300 million and in 1995 $600 million. These
figures are in comparison with the country's gross export earnings from
sugar ($1 billion), tourism ($1.4 billion) and foreign investment ($200
million). Prior to 1993 it was the Castro regime that prohibited the
circulation of U.S. dollars in the Cuban populace.
2.
2. Myth: Living conditions of the Cuban populace prior to Castro's arrival to power were appalling.
Reality: “ Cuba is one of the countries [of Latin
America ] where the standard of living of the masses was particularly
high.” – Cuban communist leader Aníbal Escalante July 30, 1961 issue
Verde Olivo Magazine. 3.
“In health, Cuba 's mortality rate was 5.8 people per 1,000 inhabitants
making it among the lowest in the world, while its infant mortality
rate of 37.6 per 1,000 inhabitants was similarly the lowest in Latin
America , far ahead of that of the second-ranked country.”
4.
Cuba ranked second in Latin America in the percentage of its labor
force covered by social security insurance against old age, disability,
and death, with 62.6% of its workforce insured.
5. Journalist
Herbert Matthews observing Cuba 's economic situation in 1957 said,
“The economy is good and most workers are contented. There are
profitable sugar, coffee, and tobacco crops. Tourism has been
satisfactory.”
6.
3. Myth: Illiteracy was extremely high in Cuba until the arrival of Fidel Castro
Reality: “According to the 1953 Cuba census, out of
4,376,529 inhabitants 10 years of age or older 23.6% were illiterate, a
percentage lower than all other Latin American countries except
Argentina (13.6%), Chile (19.6%), and Costa Rica (20.6%). Factoring only
the population 15 years of age or older, the rate is lowered to 22.1%”
7.
4. Myth: Fulgencio Batista was a right wing dictator.
Reality: The Cuban Communist Party supported
Fulgencio Batista in exchange the CP was legalized during the Batista
dictatorship and even got two cabinet ministers in 1942. Additional
documentation of relationship between Batista and the Cuban Communists
are outlined below:
"What right does Señor Batista have to speak of Communism? After all,
in the elections of 1940 he was the candidate of the Communist Party
... his portrait hung next to Blas Roca's and Lazaro Pena's; and half a
dozen ministers and confidants of his are leading members of the CP,"
said Fidel Castro.
8.
Batista's coalition with Cuba 's communists
In
November 1940, the communists supported Batista's candidates in the
elections to the Constituent Assembly. In return for their support,
Batista allowed the communists to organize and control the government
sponsored union, Cuban Confederation of Labor (CTC Confederacion de
Trabajadores de Cuba ) The first Secretary General of the CTC was Lazaro
Pena--who, ironically, enough, held the same post in the Castro regime.
In exchange for these favors the communists guaranteed Batista labor
peace. In line with the Communist Party's "Popular Front Against
Fascism" policy, the alliance of the Communist Party with the Batista
was officially consumated when the Party joined the Batista government.
The
Communist Party leaders Carlos Rafael Rodriguez and Juan Marinello (who
now hold high posts in the Castro government) became Ministers Without
Portfolio in Batista's Cabinet. To illustrate the intimate
connections between the communists and Batista, we quote from a letter
of Batista to Blas Roca, Secretary of the Communist Party:
June 13,1944
Dear Blas,
With
respect to your letter which our mutual friend, Dr. Carlos Rafael
Rodriguez, Minister Without Portfolio, passed to me, I am happy to again
express my firm unshakeable confidence in the loyal cooperation the
People's Socialist Party [the then official name of the Communist Party
of Cuba] its leaders and members have given and continue to give myself
and my government. . .
Believe me, as always, Your very affectionate and cordial friend,
Fulgencio Batista
In the electoral campaign the Communist candidates won ten seats in
the Cuban parliament and more than a hundred posts in Municipal
councils. Later, the communists joined Batista in condemning Fidel
Castro's attack on the Moncada Barracks (July 26, 1953 -- the
anniversary of the attack is a national holiday in Castro's Cuba). . .
the life of the People's Socialist Party (communist). . . has been to
combat . . . and unmask the putschists and adventurous activities of the
bourgeois opposition as being against the interests of the people. . .
(reported in Daily Worker, U.S organ of the Communist Party, August 10,
1953 )
9.
5. Myth: The Cuban government between 1959 and today
has made great progress in literacy rates when compared to other Latin
American nations.
Reality: Cuba 's rising literacy rates track with the rest of Latin America .
TABLE 2 LATIN AMERICAN LITERACY RATES (PERCENT)
|
LATEST AVAILABLE DATA FOR
|
| |
1950-53 |
2000 |
| Argentina |
87 |
97 |
| Cuba |
76 |
96 |
| Chile |
81 |
96 |
| Costa Rica |
79 |
96 |
| Paraguay |
68 |
93 |
| Colombia |
62 |
92 |
| Panama |
72 |
92 |
| Ecuador |
56 |
92 |
| Brazil |
49 |
85 |
| Dominican Republic |
43 |
84 |
| El Salvador |
42 |
79 |
| Guatemala |
30 |
69 |
| Haiti |
11 |
49 |
| SOURCE: UN STATISTICAL YEARBOOK 1957, pp. 600-602; UN STATISTICAL YEARBOOK 2000, pp. 76-82. |
| a. DATA FOR 1950-53 ARE AGE 10 AND OVER. DATA FOR 1995 ARE AGE 15 AND OVER, REFLECTING |
| A CHANGE IN COMMON USAGE OVER THIS PERIOD. |
| b. DATA FOR ARGENTINA 1950-53 IS CURRENT AS 1947 DATA, THE LATEST AVAILABLE, AND REFLECTS |
| AGES 14 AND OVER. |
| c. DATA FOR 2000 ARE AGE 15 AND OVER. |
6. Myth: U.S. controlled Cuban politics through the
Platt Amendment until Castro's arrival in 1959. In effect, Before Castro
democratic governments in Cuba were puppets of the United States.
Reality: The Cuban republic prior to Castro's
revolution provided an eight-hour work day; the right to strike;
university autonomy; had a public space with large numbers of newspapers
and radio stations with diverse political and ideological viewpoints;
and had abolished the Platt Amendment by 1934. Reflecting this reality
Cuban foreign policy during its democratic period pursued Cuba 's
national interests even when in conflict with those of the United
States.
1920s
The United States refused to join the League of Nations in 1919 but Cuba joined the League of Nations in 1920.
10.
1930s
With 29 U.S. warships surrounding the island, on Sept 10, 1933,
revolutionary president Dr. Ramon Grau San Martin refused to pledge
allegiance to the 1901 constitution and unilaterally rescinded the Platt
Amendment claiming for Cuba full sovereignty, in what could have been
considered a very unwise act of open hostility towards the United
States. He pledged allegiance to Cuban people instead and promised to
someday raise his hand for a new constitution.
http://www.amigospais-guaracabuya.org/oages015.php
1940s
Dr. Ernesto Dihigo Cuba 's delegate to the United
Nations General Assembly on November 28, 1947 explained Cuba 's vote
against the creation of Israel in a two state partition, which placed it
in direct conflict with Washington 's drive for the recognition of
Israel .
11. The Cuban ambassador's argument was systematic and well thought out:
The Balfour Declaration lacked any legal standing because the British
government was offering something that did not belong to it.
Even accepting the illegitimate Balfour Declaration it merely
promised Jews a national home that would not compromise the civil rights
of the Arab population, but it did not promise the establishment of a
free state whose formation would affect the rights they sought to
protect.
Seizing more than one half of the territory and placing thousands of
Arabs under Jewish rule in a situation as subordinates when they had
once been owners was compromising the rights of non-Jews in Palestine.
Why have the people of Palestine not been consulted via democratic
means to know the will of all the people of Palestine ? Is it because
the results of such a consultation would be contrary to what one wants
done? If that is the case where are our democratic principles that we
are constantly invoking?
The partition of Palestine implies the establishment of the principle
that all minorities racial or any other type can separate itself from
the political community of which it is already a part.
Cuba ran the danger of losing part of its territory due to US
citizens immigrating to the Isle of Pines . Thanks to good fortune on
our part and the honor of the US government that effort failed because
notably the leaders of the US recognized our rights. But we cannot
forget that danger and how we would have felt had part of our territory
been taken. It is difficult to imagine how the Arabs of Palestine will
feel if the plan of partition is approved, and we cannot contribute with
our vote that which we would not like done to us to be done to them.
Do not tell us that sometimes one must accept a political solution
that is unjust because peace can never be built upon an injustice or
cordiality between nations.
We respect the Jewish and non-Jewish refugees that today find
themselves in concentration camps. Cuba has expressed that this problem
can be solved with the goodwill of all nations. Together, accepting
proportionally, according to the conditions of each country; but that
Palestine , who was not responsible for the causes that led to this
crisis, should not solely resolve.
Cuba during the Autentico period (1944-1952) had been involved in
interventions in the Dominican Republic to combat the Trujillo
dictatorship although it was a pro-US dictatorship at the time.
1950s
United States had not been consulted about Batista's March 10,1952 Coup d'etat.
In a
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Ambassador in Cuba (Beaulac) with
Dr. Miguel Angel de la Campa, Minister of State datelined Habana, March
22, 1952 and marked secret The American Ambassador indicated that
according to Dr. Campa,
“ Cuba intended to restore normal
relations with countries toward which the former Cuban Government had
had an attitude of hostility. He mentioned Spain and the Dominican
Republic in particular. He said he thought the United States should
recognize promptly; that it was in our interest that the situation
should develop in an orderly way. I reminded Dr. Campa that our
Government had not been consulted about the coup d'etat and that Cuba could not expect automatic recognition from us.” 12. Earlier in the same communication he raised the issue that
he
“had been particularly worried about the interventions in which Cuba ,
together with Guatemala and other countries, had engaged. He said that
the kind of government the Dominicans had, for example, was no business
of Cuba's, and Cuba had pledged itself not to intervene in the Dominican
Republic; but it had intervened, nevertheless.” 13.
Dr. Carlos Prio Socarras, the last democratically elected
President of Cuba (1948-52), and eight other Cubans were indicted on
February 13, 1958 for conspiring to set up a well-financed military
expedition to attack Cuba. Dr. Prio and the others were charged with
conspiring to violate the neutrality laws of the United States . A
Federal grand jury said they had “conspired to begin and set foot on,
and to provide and prepare the means for, and take part in, military
expeditions and enterprises to be carried on from the United States
against the Republic of Cuba .” At the request of United States Attorney
Paul W. Williams, Federal Judge Edward Weinfeld issued bench warrants
for the arrest of all the defendants. In 1954 Dr. Prio was indicted with
seventeen other persons on charges stemming from the purchase and
exportation of arms to Cuba . He did not contest the charges, but
pleaded nolo contendere and was fined $9,000. In Miami yesterday, Dr.
Prio said the new indictment “should be a great comfort for
dictatorships in Latin America , particularly for Batista, an enemy of
all democratic governments.”
14.
On February 14, 1958 Dr. Carlos Prio Socarras, former President of
Cuba, chose to become a prisoner in Miami yesterday because three men
indicted with him for revolutionary activities against Cuba were unable
to raise bail.
15.
7. Myth: Cuba 's healthcare system is universal and egalitarian for all Cubans
Reality: According
to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the Cuban Government
currently devotes a smaller percentage of its budget for health care
than such regional countries as Nicaragua , Argentina , Venezuela ,
Chile and Costa Rica . PAHO finds that Cuba in terms of per capita
expenditures on healthcare is behind such regional countries as
Argentina, Bahamas, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Chile, Costa Rica, and
Jamaica .
16.
E.26.0.0-Annual national health expenditure as a proportion of the GDP [%]
Last Data
Available Country Health Expenditure
1999 Nicaragua 9.16
2000 Argentina 9.10
1999 Costa Rica 9.07
2000 Venezuela 8.77
2000 Chile 7.13
1997 Cuba 6.68
1998 Dominican Republic 6.51
1994 Puerto Rico 6.04
1998 Bahamas 5.14
2000 Jamaica 4.92
E.25.0.0-Annual national health expenditure per capita (current US$) [$ per capita]
Last Data
Available Country Health Expenditure
2000 Argentina 697.00
1998 Bahamas 664.00
1992 Puerto Rico 605.03
2000 Venezuela 437.00
2000 Chile 331.00
1999 Costa Rica 285.00
2000 Jamaica 140.00
1997 Cuba 139.00
1998 Dominican Republic 112.00
1999 Nicaragua 43.00
Health Care in Cuba : "Medical Apartheid" and Health Tourism
Cuba's growing health tourism effort has roused bitter reproach from
the nation's critics, who accuse the regime of President Fidel Castro of
creating an apartheid system of health care, in which foreigners--and
Cuban party elite--get top-class service while average Cubans must make
do with dilapidated facilities, outdated equipment and meagerly stocked
pharmacies.
17. These greatly contrast with Cuban elite hospitals promoted by "health tourism" enterprises such as
SERVIMED.
18.
Hilda Molina, one of Cuba 's most noted scientists, founder and a
former director of Havana 's International Center for Neurological
Restoration broke with the regime and resigned from her high-level
position and also as a member of Cuba 's National Assembly to protest
the system of medical apartheid. In a lengthy document smuggled out of
Cuba after her resignation, Dr. Molina describes a campaign by Cuba to
present itself as a "medical superpower" attractive to foreign patients
looking for bargain-basement health care. Instead, she writes, these
patients have often found themselves subject to substandard, sometimes
fraudulent medical care: "The lack of adequate professional
qualifications, the absence of medical ethics, and the drive toward
financial enrichment characterize Cuba 's medical system and often yield
unfortunate results." According to Dr. Molina, "Foreign patients are
routinely inadequately or falsely informed about their medical
conditions to increase their medical bills or to hide the fact that Cuba
often advertises medical services it is unable to provide."
19.
Cuba's struggling economy has been boosted by the successful export of
its medical technology abroad, and by health tourism within the country.
In 2003 the medical sector ranked sixth in terms of exports and
services generating $250 million a year in 2002. Health Tourism, with a
number of specialist hospitals, clinics, health spas and resorts
catering to foreign visitors in 2002 more than 5000 foreign patients
traveled to Cuba for a wide range of treatments including eye-surgery,
neurological disorders such as multiple sclerosis and Parkinson's
disease and orthopedics (November, Economy)
20.
8. Myth: Forced Child labor does not exist in Castro's Cuba
Reality: Under the Labor Code stated in the 1997
Human Rights Report, fifteen and sixteen year old Cuban children receive
training towards a job or can cover for absentees during a shortage of
workers.
This code also states that Cuban students over the age
of eleven must devote between thirty and forty five days of their summer
break to working on a farm. 21. However,
they are limited to a maximum of eight hours a day. It is mandatory
that Cuban children attend school until the ninth grade. This law is
obeyed for the most part amongst Cuban children.
22. The typical Cuban childhood: become a Pioneer, work in the fields, learn how to shoot and clean a gun and march.
23.
9. Myth: Castro's revolution increased food availability for Cubans.
False:
Cuba in 1948-49 had per capita food
consumption at 2,730 calories per day placing it third in the UN FAO
Yearbook among 11 other Latin American Countries. Data for 1995-97
placed Cuba ninth among the same 11 countries. Cuba had the dubious distinction of being one of three nations that had a reduction in food consumption the other two were Uruguay (5.5 %) and Paraguay (4.5%). Cuba had the greatest reduction in caloric intake at (11.5%).
LATIN AMERICA: PER CAPITA FOOD CONSUMPTION (CALORIES PER DAY)
|
| LATEST DATA AVAILABLE FOR |
| |
1954-57 |
1995-97 |
% INCREASE |
| MEXICO |
2,420 |
3,108 |
28.4 |
| ARGENTINA |
3,100 |
3,113 |
0.4 |
| BRAZIL |
2,540 |
2,933 |
15.5 |
| URUGUAY |
2,960 |
2,796 |
-5.5 |
| CHILE |
2,330 |
2,774 |
19.1 |
| COLOMBIA |
2,050 |
2,591 |
26.4 |
| PARAGUAY |
2,690 |
2,570 |
-4.5 |
| VENEZUELA |
1,960 |
2,388 |
21.8 |
| ECUADOR |
2,130 |
2,660 |
24.9 |
| HONDURAS |
2,260 |
2,366 |
4.7 |
| CUBA (A) |
2,730 |
2,417 |
-11.5 |
| (A) - FOR 1948-49. |
10. Myth: Fidel Castro claims that "The Cuban
successes [in sports] are not due to the superiority of our athletes,
but due to the fact that the country has a socialist revolution, a
superior regime." 24.
Reality: The Cuban success in sports predates the
socialist dictatorship. Cubans were pioneers inbaseball, boxing, and
won medals in the Olympics prior to Castro. Cuba 's first great baseball
figures were
Esteban Bellan and
Emilio Sabourín .
Bellan, a black Cuban, had such a gift for baseball that he was able to
travel to America and play third base for the Troy Haymakers in 1871,
the first year of the old National Association, baseball's first
professional league.
Sabourin organized Cuba 's first professional baseball league in 1878 and ardently promoted sport throughout Cuba .
Sabourin funneled money he made from baseball into the hands of revolutionaries among them José Martí .
Sabourín died in 1897 in the Spanish fortress Castillo del Hacha.
Following independence Cuba prior to 1959 had an impressive number of
baseball players in the Major Leagues as well as thriving leagues on the
island. Boxing was already an established sport with fighters of world
caliber. There are five Cuban-born fighters enshrined in the
International Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota , New York -- Kid
Chocolate, Kid Gavilan, Luis Rodriguez, Ultimino Ramos and Jose Napoles.
The top three are generally considered Chocolate, Gavilan and
Rodriguez.
Former lightweight Frankie Otero says because Cubans were
fighting all over the world, they had incorporated moves from New York ,
Miami , Philadelphia and Mexico in their Cuban brand of boxing. "But
the one thing we always had was the attitude that Cubans never quit," he
said. "That was the big thing. We had this pride. Yes, our country was
under a dictatorship and things aren't good there, but Cubans had this
attitude that it was us against the world."
Hall of Famer Emile
Griffith tested the best of the Cubans, winning three of four from
Rodriguez, two of three from Benny Paret, decisioning Isaac Logart,
Florentino Fernandez and Jose Stable as well as being stopped by
Napoles. Griffith 's trainer Gil Clancy offers this assessment. "Other than all of them being very good fighters, they didn't really
have common characterstics," he said. "Luis Rodriguez was the best and
Florentino Fernandez was the most the dangerous. Rodriguez knew how to
use the clock. He knew how to win rounds. He was a busy fighter. He was a
very good boxer but not as good a puncher as Fernandez. Fernandez could
knock out a horse."
A look at some notable Cuban fighters:
Kid Chocolate:
Cuba 's first world champion ... world junior lightweight champion 1931
... Fought the best of his era: Al Singer, Fidel LaBarba, Tony
Canzoneri, Jackie "Kid" Berg, Benny Bass. Black Bill (Eladio Valdes):
stablemate of Kid Chocolate ... lost to Midget Wolgast for the vacant
flyweight title in 1930 ... beat world champ Corp. Izzy Schwartz three
times. Kid Tunero (Evalio Mustelier): middleweight who beat Ezzard
Charles in 1942 ... also beat champs Anton Christoforidis and Ken
Overlin
Kid Gavilan:
welterweight champ … elected to boxing Hall of Fame in 1990 … beat
fellow hall-of-famers Billy Graham, Ike Williams, Beau Jack and Carmen
Basilio … lost to Sugar Ray Robinson twice. Nino Valdes: turned pro
1941... heavyweight contender who beat Ezzard Charles in 1953 … Lost
decisions to Harold Johnson and Archie Moore … Was knocked out by Sonny
Liston. Isaac Logart: turned pro 1949 ... No. 1 rated welterweight ...
Beat Virgil Akins, Gil Turner, Gasper Ortega, Joe Miceli ... Fought
Griffith and Benvenuti. Angel "Robinson" Garcia: turned pro 1955 ...
journeyman who fought in 21 countries ... 225 fights ... fought Eddie
Perkins, Ismael Laguna, Roberto Duran, Esteban DeJesus and Wilfred
Benitez. Orlando Zulueta: fought from 1946-1962 ... lightweight and
junior lightweight contender ... Lost junior lightweight title fight to
Sandy Saddler in 1949 and lightweight title bout to Joe Brown in 1957
... Beat Don Jordan, Jimmy Carter and Paddy DeMarco. Benny "Kid" Paret:
turned pro 1955 ... welter champ 1960 … Challenged Fullmer for
middleweight title and was knocked out … Beat Don Jordan, Federico
Thompson and Emile Griffith Florentino Fernandez: turned pro 1956 ...
beat Paddy DeMarco, Ralph Dupas, Gasper Ortega and Jose Torres … Lost
split decision to Gene Fullmer in 1961 middleweight title fight.
Luis Rodriguez:
turned pro 1956 ... welter champ 1963 … Beat Virgil Akins, Emile
Griffith, Denny Moyer, Hurricane Carter, George Benton ... Challenged
Nino Benvenuti for middleweight title ... Inducted into Hall of Fame
1997.
Ultimino Sugar Ramos :
turned pro 1957 ... fought out of Mexico ... won featherweight title
1963 ... Fought Vicente Saldivar and Carlos Ortiz twice … Elected to
Boxing Hall of Fame in 2001 Doug Vaillant: turned pro 1957 ... lost 1963
lightweight title fight to Carlos Ortiz ... Beat Len Matthews, Dave
Charnley and drew with Carlos Hernandez
Jose "Mantequilla" Napoles :
Turned pro 1958 ... fought out of Mexico ... welter champ 1969 &
1971 ... Beat Curtis Cokes, Emile Griffith, Hedgemon Lewis, Ernie Lopez
... Inducted into Hall of Fame, 1990. Jose Stable: turned pro 1959 ...
Lost decision to Griffith in 1965 title bout ... Beat Curtis Cokes,
Billy Collins, Stan "Kitten Hayward, Kenny Lane Jose Legra: turned pro
1960 ... fought out of Spain ... won featherweight title 1968 & 1972
... fought Rafiu King, Howard Winstone, Johnny Famechon, Vicente
Saldivar, Eder Jofre, Alexis Arguello. Frankie Otero: turned pro 1968
...North American junior lightweight champ ... Twice fought Ken
Buchanan. When the debate over Cuba 's best fighter is waged among
modern boxing experts, it centers around Gavilan and Luis Rodriguez, who
won the welterweight title in 1963.
Joe Miceli is one of three men to
have fought Gavilan and Rodriguez, dropping a split decision to Gavilan
at Madison Square Garden in 1950 and getting stopped by Rodriguez in
Havana in 1959. "I didn't know much about Rodriguez when we fought,"
said Miceli. "He was a slick boxer and he went on to be champion. But
Gavilan was great. He was a real showman. He was very cute in the ring.
The crowd liked him. He did things in the ring long before Muhammad
Ali." It would be Rodriguez, however, who had an important affect on Ali
at the Fifth Street Gym. "Luis was very fond of Muhammad and vice
versa," said historian Hank Kaplan. "Even though Luis was a
welterweight, they occasionally sparred. Muhammad always studied Luis in
the gym. There is no question that Muhammad incorporated some of what
he saw in Luis into his own repertoire."
25.
Cuba won medals in the Olympics of 1900, 1904, 1948 before the arrival of the Castro regime. During
the sixty years when black baseball players were banned from America 's
major leagues, blacks and whites competed freely in Cuba . Many of the
greatest interracial games of the era took place in Havana, rather than
in Yankee Stadium or Fenway Park, pitting Ty Cobb against John Henry
Lloyd, and Carl Hubbell against Luis Tiant, Sr. The Cubans proved that
the game could be integrated and ultimately played a role in breaking
the American "color line" by providing the Brooklyn Dodgers with a place
where they could bring Jackie Robinson to spring training in 1947. The
Great Stadium of Havana, now the Latin American Stadium, was inaugurated
on 1946 in the municipality of "Cerro", with a seating capacity for 35
000 spectators. Today the Latin American Stadium holds 55 000
spectators. The Havana Cubans, of the Florida International League
started playing at this ground.
Championships of the Cuban Baseball
league encouraged the development of pro and amateur baseball in Cuba ,
they welcomed also players from the Big Leagues and other outstanding
celebrities of national baseball of that time. Excelling players from
the 1940s and 1950s were:
Conrado Marrero, Jose de la Caridad
Mendez, Martin Dihigo, Adolfo Luque, Alejandro Oms, Cristobal Torriente,
Napoleon Reyes, Andres Fleitas, Roberto Ortiz, Avelino Canizares,
Agapito Mayor, Fermin Guerra, Willie Miranda, Juan Ealo and Orestes
Minozo .
26.
The Cubans that American baseball fans remember are members of the last
group to arrive on these shores, in the early 1960s: the Twins' Tony
Oliva and Zoilo Versalles; Tony Perez, of the Reds; Oriole ace Mike
Cuellar; Luis Tiant, of the Red Sox; and Bert Campanaris, of the Oakland
A's. During their prime years members of this group won virtually every
offensive and defensive award available to major-league players --
Rookie of the Year, Golden Glove, Batting Champion, Most Valuable
Player, the Cy Young award -- but few followed them after the Cuban
Revolution.
27.
By 1984 only Tony Perez remained in the big leagues, and the Cuban
presence in American baseball was at its lowest point of the century.
The reality that Cuba 's victories during the Castro era were obtained
at high cost to the players and their families are exemplified with the
case of the brothers Livan and Orlando``El Duque '' Hernandez. El Duque
was Cuba 's best starting pitcher before the 1996 Olympic Games at
Atlanta . However, because Livan defected in 1995, Cuban sports
authorities removed Orlando from the team that eventually won the gold
medal. The authorities' explanation was that Orlando had an elbow
injury, but Livan and other sources on the team disputed that. Cuban
authorities later banned Orlando from sports for life. El Duque and
seven others -- including the catcher for Cuba 's 1996 Olympic team,
Alberto Hernandez (not related to Orlando or Livan); Orlando 's wife,
Noris Bosch; Orlando 's cousin, Joel Pedroso; and four people not
immediately identified -- were spotted on Anguilla Cay near Cay Sal they
had arrived there by raft.
28.
11 . Myth: All opposition activity was controlled by the CIA and composed of displaced members of the upper class.
Reality: The "pueblos cautivos" were created by the
Cuban authorities with the purpose of maintaining under control and far
from their province of origin the thousands of peasants who collaborated
with the armed resistance movement (branded as "bandits" by the
government) that arose between years 1960-65 on the mountainous region
of the Escambray. The eviction and relocation of these families began in
1970 and it did not stop until 1985, with the deportation of the last
household. To this day, these farmers and their descendants are
forbidden to leave.
29.
This armed resistance was not sponsored or controlled by the CIA.
Opposition to the Castro dictatorship has often gone on despite the
opposition of the U.S. government and its active collaboration with the
Cuban dictatorship at times to frustrate exile plans. Contacts between
US and Cuba intelligence agencies have been taking place relatively
frequently, and following the collapse of the Soviet bloc increased to
two or three times a year. ... “Fidel Castro confirmed the existence of
such links in 1998 when he told U.S. newspaper executives in Havana that
his security agents had given the FBI and CIA information” on Cuban
exiles.
30.
Information provided by Cuban intelligence agencies was used by U.S.
officials to indict Cuban exiles involved in anti-Castro conspiracies.
Ramon Saul Sanchez sentenced in New York on May 7, 1984 to 9 years for
failure to testify before a Federal grand jury and served four and half
years of that sentence. There have been a number of incidents were
non-violent opposition to the Castro regime has met with confiscations
of property and detention. Ramon Saul Sanchez in the midst of a five-day
hunger strike outside the Cuban Interests office in Washington was
arrested by the U.S. Secret Service and charged with disorderly conduct.
He was protesting the refusal of Fidel Castro's communist government to
grant him a visa to visit Cuba after 32 years.
31.
In the ten years since Ramon Saul was released from prison, he has
employed an increasingly aggressive strategy of civil disobedience. In
1988 he formed a group called the National Cuban Commission, which
initially started out organizing rallies and protests in Little Havana.
By 1995, in protest of Clinton 's policies toward Cuba , he led an
effort to block toll plazas and tie up traffic. Later that year, on July
13, the National Cuban Commission organized an expedition into Cuban
territorial waters. As Sanchez and others tossed flowers into the water,
Cuban gunboats closed in on the fishing boat Democracia, ramming it
several times and forcing it to return to the United States . Sanchez
immediately renamed his organization Movimiento Democracia. Seeking to
ease rather than exacerbate tensions with Cuba , federal authorities in
December of this past year impounded one of the group's boats. Early in
1999 Sanchez went on a hunger strike to pressure the United States to
return the vessel. U.S. officials obliged, but only after extracting a
promise from Sanchez that the boat would not leave U.S. territorial
waters until a judge could decide whether the federal government
overstepped its authority by seizing the craft.
32.
(1) United States Census Bureau. Foreign Trade:
Trade in Goods with Cuba https://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/balance/c2390.html
(2)
Transnational Communities Programme Cuba : Papal visit followed by
lifting of restrictions on flights and remittances
http://www.transcomm.ox.ac.uk/traces/page1.htm
(3) Llerena, Mario.
The Unsuspected Revolution: The Birth and Rise of Castroism . Cornell University Press. Ithaca and London . 1978. pg 51
(4) Alvarez Díaz, José R. “A Study on Cuba .”
Cuban Economic Research Project. Coral Gables : University of Miami Press, 1965,438-441
(5) González, Edward ,
Cuba Under Castro: The Limits of Charisma Boston : Houghton Mifflin, 1974. 16-17.
(6)Matthews, Herbert L. “Rebel Strength Gaining in Cuba but Batista has the Upper Hand,” The New York Times, 25 February 1957 .
(7) Alvarez Díaz, José R. “A Study on Cuba .”
Cuban Economic Research Project. Coral Gables : University of Miami Press, 1965. pg 426-427.
(8) H.M. Enzenburger, Raids and Reconstructions, London , 1976, p.200.
http://www.marxisme.dk/arkiv/binns/80-cucas.htm
(9) Sam Dolgoff
The Cuban Revolution: A Critical Perspective (Chapter 7 The Batista Era) Montreal : Black Rose Books (
link)
(10) http://www.historymole.com/cgi-bin/main/results.pl?type=theme&theme=UN
(11)Dr. Ernesto Dihigo LA CUESTION DE PALESTINA 28 de Noviembre de 1947 http://www.autentico.org/oa09089.php
(12) http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/cable/cable-3-22-52.htm
(13) http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/cable/cable-3-22-52.htm
(14) Edward Ranzal “ U.S. Indicts Prio As Cuban Plotter Ex-President and 8 Others Said to Prepare Attack ”
The New York Times 2/14/58 Pg 1 http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/cuban-rebels/NYT-2-14-58b.htm
(15) Edward Ranzal “ Dr. Prio and 3 Jailed: Cuban Ex-President Joins Men Who Can't Raise Bail”
The New York Times. February 15, 1958 http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/cuban-rebels/NYT-2-15-58.htm
(16)Pan
American Health Organization, Health Analysis and Information Systems
Area. Regional Core Health Data Initiative; Technical Health Information
System. Washington DC , 2003.
http://www.paho.org/English/SHA/coredata/tabulator/newTabulator.htm
(17)Goering, Laurie “Promise of cures lures tourists to Cuba ”
Chicago Tribune April 30, 2001
(18) http://www.cubanacan.cu/ESPANOL/TURISMO/SALUD/INDEX.HTM
(19)16 Calzon, Frank “Want a Radical Face Lift? Try Revolutionary Cuba ”
The Wall Street Journal January 21, 2000
(20)
Chronicle on Cuba : Summary of News Items Reported on Cuba
January-December, 2003 http://www.cubasource.org/chronicles/2003
Summaries/Economy.pdf
(21) Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Cuba - 2000 http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2000/wha/751.htm
February 23, 2001 . http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2000/wha/751.htm
(22)
Lauren Clark, Jenn Hamm, Julia Hitchings, and Sandi Yarow. “Children in
Cuba ” 1998. Tulane University
http://www.tulane.edu/~rouxbee/kids98/cuba5.html
(23) Ocaña, Damarys “'Study, work, rifle' Cuba 's educational system presses revolutionary message along with ABC's”
The Miami Herald August 6, 2000 .
(24) FIDEL CASTRO ADDRESSES CUBAN ATHLETES ON BRAZIL GAMES .Havana Domestic Service in Spanish 1902 GMT 1 May 74 F
http://www1.lanic.utexas.edu/la/cb/cuba/castro/1974/19740501
(25) Robert Cassidy History of Cuban Boxing Part 1: The Last Generation of Pro Fighters
http://www.ibhof.com/ibhfcuba1.htm#rollcall
(26) http://chimgee.ledell.org:8081/cuba/sport.html
(27)Bruce Brown “Cuban Baseball”
The Atlantic Monthly ; June 1984 Volume 253, No. 6: pages 109-114
(28) Javier Mota & Cynthia Corzo “ Brother follows Livan's lead, flees Cuba ”
The Miami Herald December 31, 1997 .
(29) Víctor Rolando Arroyo. “Low-income dining facility condemned”
UPECI / www.cubanet.org November 14, 2002
(30) Juan O. Tomayo “U.S.-Cuba spy agency contacts began a decade ago”
The Miami Herald October 31, 1998
(31) Reuters “Anti-Castro hunger striker arrested in Washington ”
Reuters . November 8, 1999 .
(32) DeFede, Jim “Leadership Abhors a Vacuum”
The Miami New Times July 22, 1999
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